Industry presence

PwC Entertainment & Media practice is committed to operating at the heart of our clients' markets, across segments and geographies. Our close affiliation to some of the world's most prestigious industry events gives our partners and directors the opportunity to share thinking around the opportunities and challenges facing entertainment and media companies worldwide. Below are a few highlights from upcoming and recent events.

Cannes Lions 2015: Cannes Lions Awards independently audited by PwC

The 2015 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival took place between 21 June- 27 June, bringing together the world's advertising agencies, media companies and advertisers to discuss and debate the future of the advertising industry. The festival recognised the industry's most creative talent with PwC independently auditing the Cannes Lions awards process.

We had several PwC colleagues attending the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival and we learned a lot during our time there. It was clear from discussions that companies creating engagement trump creating content for a specific platform; brands should curate experiences for people, not devices. There was also talk around data and it's role in shifting the creative narrative. Data and creativity no longer need to be mutually exclusive, however brands must realise that consumer intuition is as equally as powerful a tool.

Vicki Huff on panel to discuss "Women in Tech and Media" at MIP TV

Vicki Huff, PwC's Global Leader for the Technology, Communications, Entertainment and Media Practice, spoke at the MIPTV "Women in Tech & Media Breakfast" which took place on 15 April 2015 in Cannes, France.

The panel discussion focussed on women in the competitive world of Technology and Media, and covered important issues including what role female millennials can play in the future of the Tech and Media industry, how Tech and Media companies can lead the way in dissolving gender barriers and how social media provides female millennials with an opportunity to address gender equality issues out in the open.

Panel moderator and President of FanTrust Entertainment Strategies of Canada, Catherine Warren started the discussion by revealing that: 'Companies with more women on the board are widely known to outperform counterparts in Fortune 500 companies: They have better returns on equity, sales, and invested capital.'

Panelist Orla Noonan, the Managing Director of Groupe AB in France expressed that 'We're living through this amazing transformation of an industry that has knockout effects on all other industries. In this industry, 27% of employees are women.'

Panelist Marci Weisler, Founder of SWSI in the USA, gave an example of a recent attempt to draw more women into the higher ranking positions at Tech and Media companies via a reality TV show where the goal wasn't to get investment from the judges, but rather to learn and grow a businesses (that had the option to be crowd-funded). This led Marci to discuss 'The growing significance of crowd funding in the disruption of whole industries and business models' which is 'utterly changing the pace of who gets to compete in the larger marketplace.'

PwC's Vicki Huff contributed that '(in a recent Millennial paper), women were more creative about thinking up different types of social networks than men' and that 'networks are the way of the future' concluding that 'it's crucial to empower women: that's the opportunity.'

Panelist Sarah Wood, Co-founder and COO of Unruly in the UK, echoed Vicki's point and felt that 'social media has changed a lot' and observed that 'across social media so many young women are standing up.'

To view the article summarising the event on the MIP TV blog, please click here.

Overseeing the accuracy of the Oscars® Balloting Process

PwC have overseen the Oscars® balloting process on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy) for 80 years. PwC will continue the traditional role of overseeing the tabulation of the voting, maintaining sole custody of all votes and tabulations, and remaining responsible for the confidentiality of the results.

CASBAA Convention 2014

October 27-30 2014, Hong Kong
Marcel Fenez, Global Leader of entertainment and media, opened the prestigious annual CASBAA Convention, which took place in Hong Kong from October 27th - 30th 2014. In Marcel's capacity as CASBAA Chairman, he was joined by senior decision-making executives in the TV broadcasting sector from across Asia and around the world.This flagship 4-day event engaged platforms, content providers, regulators, ad agencies, and satellite and technology services through compelling keynotes and select panels. Marcel hosted the inaugural CASBAA Invitational Roundtable and was also be on stage conducting the key note interview with Jon Feltheimer - CEO of Lionsgate, discussing what it takes to navigate the complex media landscape, and how to thrive in an age of constant change. For full programme details, please visit www.casbaaconvention.com.

MIPCOM 2014

Marcel Fenez, Global leader of entertainment and media, was on centre stage at MIPCOM this year which took place between October 12-16 in Cannes, France. Marcel began by interviewing Dr Charles Zhang, discussing what’s happening around media, entertainment and digital disruption in China, including piracy. Watch the video or read the full blog post. Marcel then moderated a panel of media moguls who shared their ambitious new business strategies in today’s increasingly competitive market.

Great conversations emerged from the influential speakers who participated in this year's event and there were some key areas up for discussion:

The consumer is all about mobile behaviour; dictating the type of content watched and how it gets consumed

The battle for content is about engagement; engagement doesn't just happen through compelling content, it happens through building relationships with the viewer, allowing companies further options for monetisation

Dr Charles Zhang was rightly quoted as saying 'Content made for the Internet can become a phenomenon'

Reflecting on Cannes Lions 2014: five closing thoughts

The 2014 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival took place from the 15-21 June. Each year PwC attend to meet our clients and discuss and debate the industry. Reflecting on some of the great conversations we had and the inspiring speakers we saw this year, we have five closing thoughts.

The growing presence of technology companies suggests disruption is the new normal

Google said “exponential technology is the new normal”. And with the industry in a continuous state of disruption, technology companies have established themselves as key players, not only at Cannes Lions, but in the ‘advertising ecosystem’.

Mobile is making marketing personal again…

Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook believes that mobile provides the opportunity to make marketing personal again. But Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, says better measurement is needed for advertising revenue to follow. See what we predict.

…but concerns around privacy remain

Technology companies tell us they are keen to provide 3rd party validation of the processes they have in place to protect consumer’s privacy; this will be key in attracting advertising revenue.

More ‘maths’ men than ‘mad’ men

The importance of data, analytics and insights has certainly come across loud and clear. Advertising agencies need to find ways for researchers, planners, data analysts and creatives to work together to deliver great ideas that provide a real return on investment.

The search for talent continues

An advertising agencies’ reputation directly impacts their ability to get the best talent. And with the prospect of winning awards and the opportunity to meet the best global talent, Cannes Lions continues to be one of the best places to recruit.

This year Phil Stokes, Entertainment and Media for Europe, India, Middle East and Africa hosted a ‘Media mastermind keynote’ at MIPCOM, the world’s annual TV content market. Drawing on PwC’s Global entertainment and media outlook 2013-2017, he interviewed Roma Khanna, president Television group and digital, Metro Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Punit Goenka, MD & CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Phil led a lively discussion on how TV ‘mega trends’ are changing the industry and what the future holds for TV. In addition, Mary Shelton Rose, Partner, Entertainment, US, held a session exploring opportunities in ‘tomorrow’s video consumption industry’ in the second of PwC’s spots on the conference programme. This enthralling session explored: is ‘cord cutting’ a threat or reality; what is the reality of second screen and new business models; and what opportunities exist for innovative companies who look ahead?

Roma Khana interviewed by PwC’s Phil Stokes on who wins in the golden age of TV and TV windowing models.

In the golden age of TV who wins?

TV windowing models

Punit Goenka interviewed by PwC’s Phil Stokes on how is new TV measurement in India creating advertising opportunities and the availability of talent in the Indian TV industry.

How is new TV measurement in India creating advertising opportunities?

Working with the ABC to develop the Business Media Total Audience Certificate

PwC, the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and other media industry representatives have developed a groundbreaking new industry standard for measuring audiences: the Business Media Total Audience Certificate.

The certificate allows companies to measure and report audience size and profile across multiple media platforms including print, website, tablet and smartphone and it will help business-to-business (B2B) publishers demonstrate the size and quality of their readership to their advertisers.